Looping system



March 2 1926. 1,574,889

w. T. HOFMANN I LOOPING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet l William T. Ho+manr',

, ywgm W Bfiarch 2, 1926.

1,574,889 W. T. HOFMANN LOOPING SYSTEM Filed Feb. 2, 1921 2 SheetsSheet 2 MANN, a citizen of the United States resid- Patented 2, 1926.

UNITED sures PATENT OFFICE.

. 'r. norms, or onroaeo, rumors, assumes no nncxmm-nawsou ROOFING oourm, or cnrcaeo, rumors, a conronn'rron or rumors.

LOOPING srermt.

. Application filed February 8, 1921. Serial No. 441,940.

To all whom it may concern: i

Be it known that I WILLIAM T. Horin in Chicago, county of Cook, and tate of ll inois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Looping Systems, of

which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in looping systems and refers more particularly to drying or cooling apparatus used n connection with paper or roofing machinery.

The important objects of the invention consist in the use of a combination of three friction drawn rolls for feeding out the paper or roofing sheet to be looped over an endless travellin chain, and, secondly, the positioning of t e three draw rolls in a manner so that the sheet is not subjected to.

undue strain as it is drawn into the loopin apparatus, and, thirdlv, the use of a flange guide roll for sitively directmg the course of the sheet su sequent to its travel through the cooling apparatus.

Heretofore, pressure rolls have been employed in feeding) out the paper to the loopmg apparatus, ut constant difiiculty has 11 experienced with these pressure rolls in that the sheet is unduly squeezed and its texture weakened thereby causing numerous shut-downs and delays. for this reason. Similar inconveniences have been experienced with the draw rolls at the dischange -end ofthe apparatus and for want of a with.

roper guiding means the course of the sheet has not been properly directed from the looping apparatus to the saturator, coater, cutter or printing devices connected there- In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the looping apparatus with parts omitted.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings-the details of the drive have been purposely omitted to avoid complication of the ap aratus more pertinent to the invention. enerally, the purpose of a looping system of this type is to maintain the roofing felt or sheet or paper sheet, whichever the case may be, in a series of loops for the purpose of drying or cooling the paper orhot coating substance in a case Describing briefly the drive -power from suita le some is to to the shaft. Tie shaft is mounted in a triple bearing arrangement 3 supporting also the shafts 4 and 5 on which are mounted the feed-in rolls 4 and '5 respectively. Meshing gears 6 also mounted upon these shafts transmit power from the shaft 1 and the shaft 1 throu h gears 2 fixedly mounted cause the-three rolls 1, 4 and 5 mounted on.

endless chain 9 over which the sheet is looped is driven in timed relation with the shaft 1 inthe following manner: A sprocket 11 mounted on the shaft 1 drives the larger sprocket 12 mounted upon the shaft 13 by means of a chain 14. A sprocket 15 also mounted upon the shaft 13 transmits this rotary movement to a similar but somewhat larger sprocket 16 mounted upon the shaft 17 through the chain 18. The shaft 17 also carries the sprocket over which the endless chain 9 travels and in this manner drives the looped sheets which are carried by the endless chain 9 at the proper rate. The feed of the sheet to the apparatus consists in threading the sheet over the top of the roll 5, under the roll 4 and over the top' of the final feed-in roll 1. An idler 19 keeps the sheet at all times in close contact with the upper or final-feed-in roll 1. Subsequent to passing over the roll 1, the sheet travels down overone of the small rollers positioned between the two sides of the endless chain 9 and is for an instant held in contact with each of the succeeding rolls of the looping chain as it moves along, by means of the idler 20. The speed of travel over the feedin rolls is sufficient to produce loops as shown at 21 before the endless looping chain has proceeded to a osition where the idler 20 will directthe s eet over the next succeeding roll. 1

In this way, there are a series of loops at all times in the apparatus which move slowly along until the loops reach a position at the end of the machine where the sheet or felted I 1.1 h usual practice to draw cg 10 Similarly, the draw-off rolls may be the materialfrom the cooling or 100 ing system by causing it to pass over an i ler roll.

The disadvantages of uneven feed to the next nvliich the sheet travels and which serve to positively direct the sheet so that it will be fed properly to the next adjoining machine. The draw rolls 22 and 23 are driven from the shaft- 26 by means of the bevel gears 27, sprocket 28, mounted upon a transverse shaft 29, and chain 30 and sprocket-31 mounted upon the shaft 32 which also supports the roll 23. n

It is obvious that the three feed-in rolls may be positioned in various ways at the as eflicient a feeding means as the positioning shown in Fig. 1. It is not my purpose to'restrict the invention to the positioning of these rolls, but only to disclose the use of feed-in rolls that do not rely upon the gripping pressure between said rolls to feed the sheet to the apparatus.

os1- tioned in numerous ways to draw the sheet from the final loop, but here again I desire only to disclose a manner of positioning the rolls whereby the sheet is drawn out of the looping system by pressure due to the contacting of the draw-ofl' rolls. ing the feed and draw-ofi' rolls in the manner described I have obviated to a great extent the difiirulties which are constantly encountered with the use of pressure feed and idler draw-oft rolls in looping systems.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a looping apparatus, the combination with an endless means for supporting a lurality of loops of flexible materials, of eed in rolls adjacent the inlet end of the endless means throu h which the flexible material is threaded and drawn into the looping apparatus, the arrangement of these rolls being such that the material is drawn into the By positionlooping apparatus without being subjected to the squeezing effect of pressure rolls.

2. In a loopm apparatus, the combination .with an end ess means for supporting a plurality of loops of flexible materials, of feed in rolls adjacent the inlet end of the endless means through which the flexible material is threadedand drawn into the looping apparatus, the arrangement of these rolls be ing such that the material is-drawn into the looping apparatus without being subjected to the squeezing effect of pressure rolls, gri ping drawofl rolls adapted to withdraw .t e flexible material from the last loop on the endless means, said ripping drawofi' rolls forming an additiona loop beyond the endless means.

3. In a looping apparatus, the combination with an endless means for supporting a plurality of 100 s of flexible materials, of feed in rolls ad acent the inlet end of the endless means through which the flexible material is threaded and drawn into the looping apparatus, the arrangement of these rolls being such that the material is drawn into the looping apparatus without being subjected to the squeezing effect of pressure rolls, gripping drawofi' rolls adapted to withdraw the flexible material from the last loop on the endless means, said grip ing drawofi' rolls forming an additional oop beyond the endless means, and a flanged guide roll for positively directing the subsequent course of the flexible sheet in its travel to the next succeeding step of operation.

4. In a looping apparatus, the combination with endless chains having spaced apart rolls positioned therebetween for supporting a plurality of loops of a sheet of flexible material, of feed in rolls adjacent the inlet to the endless chain functioning to introduce the sheet without subjecting same to pres sure, pressure drawofl rolls adjacent the discharge from the endless chain for removing the sheet of flexible material, said pressure drawott rolls forming an additional loop exterior of the endless chain, and a flanged guide roller receiving the sheet of flexible material from the last mentioned 100 and accurately directing its course as it Is fed to the next succeeding step of operation.

WILLIAM T. HOFMANN. 

